BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 312
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 312 (Bonnie Lowenthal)
As Amended April 7, 2011
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-3
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Atkins, Dickinson, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Huber, Huffman, Monning, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Wieckowski | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wagner, Silva, Jones | | |
| | |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, Nielsen |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Clarifies protections and remedies for hate-based
violence directed at homeless people. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the protections and remedies of the Ralph Civil
Rights Act include violence or intimidation by threat of
violence committed against a person or property because the
person is or is perceived to be homeless.
2)Defines "homeless person" to mean a person who does not have a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; a person
that has a nighttime residence that constitutes any of the
following: a supervised, publicly or privately operated
shelter designated to provide temporary living accommodations,
including, but not limited to, welfare hotels, congregate
shelters, and transitional housing; an institution that
provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be
institutionalized; or, a public or private building or
designated area that is not ordinarily designed for, or
ordinarily used for, sleeping accommodations for persons.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations:
1)Minor absorbable workload increase, from increased claims and
investigations, to the Department of Fair Employment and
AB 312
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Housing (DFEH), which is charged with enforcing the Ralph
Civil Rights Act.
2)Minor increase in court costs and caseloads, and in the civil
case backlogs, due to additional filings related to a new
cause of action.
COMMENTS : The author explains the need for the bill as follows:
"There are an estimated 157,000 homeless people in California,
perhaps the most vulnerable population in the state. Of those
30,000 are veterans. They are more likely to suffer from mental
and physical illness, and less likely to receive comprehensive
medical treatment. Even worse, they are the population most
likely to be the target of violent attacks. In the last year
alone, homeless people have been set on fire, stabbed, shot, and
beaten with baseball bats. California has the second-highest
rate of violence against the homeless in the nation. Young
adults, primarily in their teens, are the most common
perpetrators of violence against the homeless: 43% are between
the ages of 13 and 19 and nearly three out of four of the
attackers are under 25. While the motives for these attacks are
not always clear, it is obvious that many were committed because
the victim was homeless or because the homeless are more
vulnerable. The perpetrators may perceive the homeless as easy
defenseless targets. They may see the homeless as second-class
citizens, unworthy of respect or mercy. These criminals may
prey on the homeless because they know the likelihood of
suffering legal consequences from their actions is not as high
as it would be if they assaulted another member of the
community."
This bill is identical to the author's measure last year, AB
2706, which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who cited a
concern that the bill "could result in legal challenges and
increased court costs."
The author notes that there are serious concerns about the
perplexing increase in violence toward homeless people, as
documented by a number of studies, including a National
Coalition for the Homeless' report on "America's Growing Tide of
Violence, August 2010" (available at www.nationalhomeless.org)
which follows up on an earlier report entitled "Hate Crimes and
Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2008," and a
Special Report to the Legislature on Senate Resolution 18
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(Burton) (2002) "Crimes Committed Against Homeless Persons"
(available at
http://ag.ca.gov/cjsc/publications/misc/SR18net/preface.pdf.)
The author notes in addition that this phenomenon has been
previously recognized by the Legislature in Penal Code Section
13519.64.
The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 (Ralph Act) currently
provides that all persons have the right to be free from
violence and intimidation by threat of violence based on, among
other things, race, religion, ancestry, national origin, and
gender. These rights may be enforced by a private action for
damages and equitable relief as well as criminal sanctions for
violations. By establishing these rights and providing access
to the courts for their vindication, the Ralph Act was designed
to provide important and, it appears, largely effective
protection for the classes of people covered by the statute. In
light of the evident problem of hate violence directed at some
people because they are homeless, this bill seeks to duplicate
that success by expressly extending these protections to another
vulnerable group, adding the term "homeless person" to the list
of protected characteristics and statuses under the Ralph Act,
borrowing definitions drawn from federal law to capture the
practical meaning of that term.
The bill's supporters include agencies dedicated to helping
people in need throughout southern California. They assert that
they have seen first-hand the tragic problem of violence against
homeless people. By classifying attacks against the homeless as
a civil crime, they believe, this bill would discourage many
would-be offenders from committing these violent acts.
Analysis Prepared by : Kevin G. Baker / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0000301